I’m sure we’ve all done the brainteaser where the word ‘the’ is repeated in print but when it is read out loud, invariably only one ‘the’ is read. Wordsmiths, however, being astute and wise to the ways of words, tend to notice it and triumphantly read ‘the’ twice. It...
ChatGPT – How do I cite it?
An American Psychological Association blog has very useful advice about how to cite and keep records of ChatGPT advice. Posted Aug 11, 2024 at 00:10 23 words
PerfectIt – How do MAC users get the PEG discount?
Perfect 6 now accommodates Mac users better PerfectIt Cloud has significant improvements, including: Improved reliability when working with larger documents. Updated styles to ensure you’re always working with the latest editorial standards. Fresh branding and design...
Science, SI, and Cary, North Carolina
After studying and teaching science for 30 years, I thought I knew everything about Système International (SI) units. Turns out I didn’t. Editing has introduced me to a whole new, unsuspected realm of SI idiosyncrasies and conventions. Some fundamentals I edit science...
Text linguistics (and its role in text quality)
When I read Annamarie Mostert’s blog, I was keen to understand more about the CCC model (correspondence, consistency, correctness) and how I could use it in my work as a copy editor. After reading more in one of my resources (listed below and in Annamarie’s blog), I...
Femininity vs femaleness
'Femininity' relates to characteristics that are socially constructed, things people have decided about what it means to be feminine, such as meekness or the colour pink. 'Femaleness' is biological. Female refers to sex assigned at birth. In our work as editors,...
JPG or PNG – When do I use them?
PNG is better for images like logos because you can have transparent areas on PNG images. They are also slightly better if you are going to compress an image for online use, as they hold their quality and sharpness better. JPGs are a better choice for photos and...
Language, UK or US – How to set it permanently
The following information originated in a PEGforum thread called Driven mad by Word, which started on Thursday 30 May 2024 at 10:51:09, more or less like this: Q: Hello PEG Word Wizards, I’m editing a book that needs to be in UK English but it keeps reverting to US...
Gerunds – Is it ‘his’ deciding’ or ‘him’ deciding?
Have you also had sleepless nights about sentences such as these? What do you think of his deciding to go? What do you think of him deciding to go? I always wonder if I know enough about gerunds and how to edit them correctly. The Oxford Dictionary defines a gerund as...
4 rules for editors to stay in check and out of trouble
I signed up for a grammar course. I know my English isn’t perfect and I can edit fairly well, but I also know that if someone asked me to explain each and every edit, I wouldn’t be able to do that effectively. I cannot always label all the rules or reasons for my...
When editors go the extra mile
The tragic arc of author Terry Pratchett’s life is well known: a prolific and celebrated writer, he was diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer’s in 2007, at age 59. He carried on writing, with his final novel being published in 2015, the same year he died. What’s...
Formatting before editing 3: Figure and table captions
(The instructions are intended as guidelines and apply to Microsoft® Word for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2403 Build 16.0.17425.20124 64-bit) for Windows 11. Details may differ slightly for other versions.) In my first blog post, I shared my 14-step formatting...
Job titles – Should they be capitalised?
When it comes to mechanical aspects of writing, few details seem to trip writers up as much as capitalization: when to use uppercase letters, and when to use lowercase letters. Specific job titles preceding a person’s name are capitalized, but descriptions are not....
What is this thing called ‘style’?
I have written this brief piece in response to an enquiry from a respected language practitioner colleague who was asking which of the meanings of ‘skryfwyse’ the English word ‘style’ best conveys, if any at all. My starting point was Bosman, Van der Merwe and...
Should a preposition end a sentence?
Then: 2007 We found this in an edition of Pegboard from as far back as 2007. These were deliberations of editors about prepositions at the end of sentences: Do your hackles rise when you spot a preposition at the end of a sentence? What does this little rhyme by...
Editing as a side hustle: a personal perspective
Let’s face it. Not many of us have the privilege of editing on a full-time basis. I suppose it falls into the same category as writing, acting or dancing as a career. Such pursuits often require that we hang on to our bill-paying jobs and participate in these...
I am new to editing – What should I know?
Welcome to the Professional Editors' Guild (PEG)! To learn all you need to know about editing, work your way through all the pages in the PEG website. But start with this very useful guide compiled by ACES, one of our affiliates. Editor, Debbie Emmitt, has some useful...
Latin abbreviations – Should I use italics?
The useful information below comes from a [PEGforum] et al. thread started on 2023-07-27, and a [PEGforum] Use of italics for Latin abbreviations thread that started on 2023-07-28. Question Please tell me if ‟et al.” should be italicised in English. Answer 1 Here is...
Renkema’s CCC model: Why is it useful?
Renkema’s CCC model facilitates and evaluates the text-editing process in a systematic, standardised and accountable way. This blog briefly describes the origin, composition and usefulness of this model. (The blog was written first in Afrikaans and has been...
Renkema se K3-model: Hoekom is dit nuttig?
Renkema’s K3/CCC-model facilitates and evaluates the text-editing process in a systematic, standardised and accountable way. The first of our blogs written in Afrikaans, this blog briefly describes the origin, composition and usefulness of this model. Renkema se...